CeBIT 2005 Photo Coverage
Hannover, Germany
March 10 - 12, 2005
Our first day of attendance was the 2nd day of CeBIT. It seemed muted. The weather was terrible and the crowds not nearly as large in the past. We did note some trends in our coverage of the pavement.
Companies from China are here like never before. They are challenging Taiwan in presence but still have a way to go here.
MP3 and Media players are everywhere. The impact of iPOD has created a 1,000 imitators.
We cannot help but wonder if CeBIT is getting old. Yes, there are the big exhibit halls full of big companies but the other halls are not as busy. One of the halls was half filled and the empty section blocked off. One exhibitor made comments on how dead it is. One year does not stop an event but the trend determines its future.
Last year we saw quite a bit of electronic pen activity. This year, it is like the pen died. We have only found two pens. The V 1 of the Anoto pen under glass in the Nokia booth and the Logitech IO2. Siemens had a pen demo last year and not a pen in sight this year. It may be early to pronounce the pen RIP but the trend line is certainly downward in terms of CeBIT activity.
If the pen is near death, the Bluetooth headset is just the opposite. We would not be surprised if there were 50 booths with Bluetooth headsets. We even saw a company from China selling them and this is a reflection of the increased activity of Chinese companies here at CeBIT.
Updated on 2/18/06
